Atlanta Hawks Listening to Trade Offers for Josh Smith

Josh Smith wants a max deal. The Atlanta Hawks do not want to give him one. The soon-to-be free agent could be on his way out of the A. Per NBA.com: “The Atlanta Hawks are entertaining trade offers around the league for forward Josh Smith, but have yet to decide whether they will deal the ninth-year forward, according to league sources. The Hawks met with Smith’s representatives this week, at which point the team indicated it was not willing to give Smith a max contract after this season, according to a source. mith, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution late last month that he believes he’s a max player, which would mean he’d be in line for a five-year deal worth around $94 million from Atlanta. But the Hawks, which expect to be major players next summer in free agency or through trades, do not want to tie up that kind of money going forward. […] Yet the Hawks have not formally decided to trade the 27-year-old Smith, who leads Atlanta in scoring and blocked shots, and is second in rebounds and assists. Team president of basketball operations and general manager Danny Ferry is in fact-finding mode now, seeing what the market is for Smith.”